Abhanga 1834
For today: in deva's house, deva did the theft — deva stripping deva made him a beggar; runners run, runners run — no path-trace to know where to go, to which village?; the thief was right with us in our own house — once given a chance, made everything a wreck; Tuka says — here, no one (at all) — who was robbed, who went, what was whose?.
The verse
देवाचे घरीं देवें केले चोरी । देवें देव नागवूनि केला भिकारी ॥१॥ धांवणियां धांवा धांवणियां धांवा । माग चि नाहीं जावें कवणिया गांव ॥ध्रु.॥ सवें चि होता चोर घरिचिया घरीं । फावलियावरी केलें अवघें वाटोळें ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे येथें कोणी च नाहीं । नागवलें कोण गेलें कोणाचें काईं ॥३॥
Literal translation
English: In deva's house, deva did the theft — deva, stripping deva, made (him) a beggar. Runners run, runners run — no path-trace to (know) where to go, to which village. The thief was right with us in our own house — once given a chance, made everything a wreck. Tuka says: here, no one (at all) — who was robbed, who went, what was whose?.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| देवाचे घरीं देवें केले चोरी | "in deva's house — deva did the theft" |
| देवें देव नागवूनि केला भिकारी | "deva — stripping deva — made him a beggar (bhikārī)" |
| धांवणियां धांवा धांवणियां धांवा | "runners run, runners run" |
| माग चि नाहीं जावें कवणिया गांव | "no path-trace — (to know) where to go — to which village" |
| सवें चि होता चोर घरिचिया घरीं | "right with us — was the thief — in our own house" |
| फावलियावरी केलें अवघें वाटोळें | "once given a chance — made everything — a wreck (vāṭōḷē)" |
| तुका म्हणे येथें कोणी च नाहीं | "Tuka says — here — no one (at all)" |
| नागवलें कोण गेलें कोणाचें काईं | "who was robbed — who went — what was whose" |
What it means
Advaita-theft-paradox abhang. One of the gatha's most-philosophically-elegant theft-paradox abhangs.
The opening: dēvāce gharī dēvē kēlē cōrī — dēvē deva nāgavūni kēlā bhikārī — in deva's house, deva did the theft — deva, stripping deva, made him a beggar. The complete drama happens-within-deva-itself: the house belongs-to-deva, the thief is-deva, the victim is-deva, the resulting-beggar is-deva. (= advaita-statement: there-is-only-one-substance and-it plays-all-the-roles.)
The runner-line: dhāmvaṇiyām dhāmvā dhāmvaṇiyām dhāmvā — māga chi nāhīm jāvē kavaṇiyā gāva — runners run, runners run — no path-trace to (know) where to go, to which village. The pursuit-is-pointless: runners-run-and-run, but-there's-no-trail to-follow, no-village to-go-to (= the thief-vanished-into-the-only-substance, leaving no track).
The chance-line: savē chi hōtā cōra gharaciyā gharī — phāvaliyāvarī kēlē avaghē vāṭōḷē — the thief was right with us in our own house — once given a chance, made everything a wreck. Vāṭōḷē = a wreck, a heap of debris. The thief-was-the-housemate; once-given-the-chance, he-wrecked-everything.
The closing-resolution: Tukā mhaṇē yēthē kōṇī chi nāhīm — nāgavalē kōṇa gēlē kōṇāce kāīm — Tuka says: here, no one (at all) — who was robbed, who went, what was whose?. Pure-advaita-conclusion: if everything-is-deva, then there's no-one-here as a separate-individual; the questions who-was-robbed, who-went, what-was-whose all-dissolve.
This abhang is one of Tuka's most-elegant philosophical-paradoxes — using the theft-image to articulate the advaita-position that all-roles are played-by-one-substance, leaving no second-party for the moral-or-theological-accounting. Pairs with 1801, 1823 as Vārkarī-compressed-advaita abhangs.
[T]
For someone today
For today: in deva's house, deva did the theft — deva stripping deva made him a beggar; runners run, runners run — no path-trace to know where to go, to which village?; the thief was right with us in our own house — once given a chance, made everything a wreck; Tuka says — here, no one (at all) — who was robbed, who went, what was whose?.
Where this applies
- Deva-stole-from-deva-made-deva-a-beggar.* Deva-cōrī-deva-bhikārī.
- Runners-run-no-path-no-village-to-go-to.* Dhāmvā-māga-na-gāva.
- Thief-was-our-housemate-wrecked-everything.* Cōra-ghara-vāṭōḷē.
- Here-no-one-who-was-robbed-who-went-what-was-whose.* Yēthē-kōṇī-na-nāgavalē-kōṇa.